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Thursday, 24 January 2013

Treasure Chest Thursday - Grandad Hutton's tin box

A year or so ago I bought a slide scanner for copying my mum and dad's collection of holiday snaps. Using the scanner at my mum's has led to other collections coming out of hiding, last summer she produced a square tin, the sort that would have had biscuits in I suppose, which was full of papers and oddments relating to my grandparents.The treasures inside included my grandad's Home Guard badges which I mentioned in a previous post and some accompanying papers.

Badges for the 11th Battalion Durham Home Guard

Here's a wonderful piece listing the various code words that could be used by the Home Guard:

Home Guard Military Signs

I particularly like 'Caterpillars' for 'Enemy is landing Tanks at ...'When he was younger grandad was in the Scouts, Boy Scouts as they would have been in those days.

William Satchell Hutton (b.1905 so a guess at this photo - 1918-1920 ish?)

In 1924 he attended the Britsh Empire Exhibition on a Boy Scouts' Jamboree Pass. He'd have been 19 years old, I bet it was a great experience.

Boy Scouts Jamboree Pass for the British Empire Exhibition

Later in his Scouting career he became a leader and we have a painting of a lovely woodland scene that was given to him by the scouts when he retired, dedicated to "Skip".Grandad was a coal miner - one of the earliest pieces I have relating to this is his notice to quit his house when he lost his job in the 1930s. My mum says he refers to this as a 'wedding present' as it arrived just a few days after he married my grandma on 22nd August 1931.

Notice to quit the colliery house on termination of employment 1931

Grandad continued as a miner and eventually became a colliery manager at Sherburn Hill Colliery - I have found details of his career on the Durham Mining Museum's website.One final picture - Grandad in mines' rescue equipment - I hope he never had to use it. Casual pose - hands in his pockets!

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About Me

I'm a mature perpetual student. I studied with the Open University from 1998 to 2014, history mostly. I used to enjoy volunteering at the local Archives transcribing old documents and helping other people with their Family History queries. I like to think I'm pretty good at IT for someone of my age group, so I can often assist there as well. I've been researching Family History for over twenty-five years, and I've been a Campaign for Real Ale member longer than that. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease just over nine years ago and had to finish work seven years ago. I reinvented myself as a Local History speaker, specialising in WW1 Soldiers and War Memorials, but had to give that up due to ill health this year. I am an Official Remote Volunteer for the IWM's Lives of the First World War and War Memorials Register projects. In October 2017 I began an MA in the History of Britain and the First World War at Wolverhampton University.